There's Something About Him
by Elmrada
Summary: Zidane by day, someone different by night. Who? He had no idea. Zidane constantly dreams of the past he doesn't remember. When he sneaks out one night, Dagger follows him. What will he tell her that he can't even tell Blank? One shot.


**go to Youtube and type in _Bittersweet Romance-_please listen to this when you read the story. You may have to repeat it several times.**

There's Something About Him

His eyes slid open. It was dead silent. He stared at the bunk above him and panicked for the slightest moment. _Where am I? Where am I? _His head fell to the side to see Vivi and Quina lying on quilts on the floor. _Black Mage Village. _A voice in his head whispered and his heart began to relax. Zidane quietly swung his legs over the side of the bed and rand his gloved hand through his sticky blond hair. _Only a dream. Pull yourself together! _Zidane wasn't a fan of the dead of night. He usually awoke from dreams, or nightmares more like, gasping for air, or thinking he felt his mother. _I've never even seen her face... _Zidane thought sourly. When he dreamt, he felt a soft hand glide along his cheek bone and someone whisper his name in such a sincere way, it made him want to cry. Arms would embrace him and he could feel a maternal warmth engulf him, telling him everything was going to be alright.

Zidane stood and checked the top bunk. There she was, sleeping so silently. A lock of Dagger's raven hair had fallen across her face. Zidane gently brushed it back with the rest of her hair. He took one last glance at her beautiful face before he snuck out of the room. Zidane entered the cool night and thanked the gods for the breeze. He was sweating like crazy. Like he'd just come out of an oven (or one of Baku's training routines) Zidane was careful to sneak down the board walks. He made his way to the cemetary. He was glad no one was there. He just needed to be alone.

The moon was like a large pendent hanging in the dark sky. The stars were twinkling. Zidane looked up and there was one star that caught his eye. It shined the brightest of them all. _I've seen that star before... _Zidane thought to himself, afraid if he thought out loud he would awaken others. But deep down inside, Zidane didn't want to hear his voice. _Baku used to show us the stars at night. Every night we'd just lay on the roof of the hide out and point out the stars in the sky. _Zidane looked down and dug the toe of his boot into some of the soft mud. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and thought back to some of those nights.

...

The air was sticky, but Zidane was the only one who didn't mind. He was lying on the roof, Blank sitting up beside him. Zidane's eyes glided across the sky, looking for some of the stars Baku had pointed out the night before.

"There!" Zidane sat up and pointed to a bright star, "Boss said that was Beauty's Star." Blank looked at him, cocking an eyebrow up, "You don't remember what he said?" The silence told Zidane the answer. Zidane shook his head, wrapping his arms around his knees, "How could you not remember? It's hard to forget... Boss said the Beauty Star was the brightest star in the world. It shines bright because of all the beautiful, hardworking people in the world. And 'cause all of the girls." Zidane smiled over at his closest Tantalus brother, "The girls are what makes it the most beautiful."

"Your mind is always on girls," Blank shook his head and looked up at the sky. He sensed the silence. Usually Zidane eagerly agreed that girls were always on his mind. Blank looked over at his younger brother. His eyes were cast downwards and a frown was etched on his face, "Hey? What's wrong? You look like you just lost your favorite pair of daggers."

"Blank," Zidane sighed, now meeting his gaze, "do you think there is a girl out there for me?" Blank could of snorted at the question, but the look in Zidane's ocean blue eyes... it made him see how serious this one. How much he needed to know.

"Sure, Zidane." Blank shrugged. He ran his hand through his bright red hair, "I mean, not Cinna," there was a low chuckle shared between the two boys, "but yeah. Out there, Zidane, there's a beautiful girl sitting by her window, praying that you're going to appear in her life someday." Zidane smiled at his brother.

"Thanks, Blank."

"Anytime, Bro."

...

The chilling air ruffled Zidane's hair. He opened his eyes and stared down at the graves marking the Black Mages who had 'stopped'. Zidane knelt and picked up a white flower. _I've never seen this flower before... _He twirled it in his hands and took in it's scent. He couldn't put his finger on what it smelt like. Almost like... Garnet. Yes. The scent of the flower reminded him of Garnet's intoxicating aroma.

You know you're inlove with someone when you are able to fly when you smell them. Zidane looked away from the beautiful flower for a moment and thought deeply about Garnet. Where to start about Garnet? He loved her so much. But he was sure she didn't feel the same. _Garnet, what will I do when you have to become queen one day? _Zidane stood, grasping the flower in his hand, pressing it to his chest. _What will I do when you can no longer be travelling by myself? When Rusty won't let me see you anymore? _Zidane lowered his head, taking the scent of the flower in.

"Zidane?" His eyes widened. He dropped the flower and spun around, grasping the hilt of his dagger. He froze when he saw Garnet standing there. She tilted her head to the side, "What are you doing up? You're the one who told us to rest. We have a big day tomorrow."

"I know," Zidane said, his voice cutting through the air softly. "I know what I said." Zidane turned back to the cemetary, crossing his arms over his chest. He couldn't look at her. His nerves were raw when it got this late. He was still shooken up over his dream. His mother was so close to him. She made him run for thousands of leagues. And when she welcome'd him, there was a blinding light. His eyes began to adjust to the bright lights and she would begin to become clear and suddenly, he woke up. For no reason. Dried tears on his face, gasping for air. He couldn't call himself man during the night. Zidane by day, someone different by night. Who? He had no idea.

"Zidane, what's wrong?" Dagger rounded to his side, gently touching him. Zidane looked over at her. Those chocolate brown eyes wanted answers and nothing short of it. He sighed. He couldn't lie to her. Not to that beautiful face. "Please tell me. Did someone tell you something?" Zidane shook his head and turned away from her again. "Zidane..."

"Dagger," Zidane turned to look at the moon, "when you see the moon, what do you think about?" Dagger was confused at first, but she turned to the moon and looked at it. She then looked down at her hands, then back at the moon.

"I think about everything, really," Dagger replied, quietly. "Vivi has found a place where he really belongs. Mother has to be stopped. You and I have to travel to the end of the earth to stop her..." Dagger's voice trailed off and she looked over at Zidane, "What do you think about?"

Zidane ran his hands through his hair, "I can't tell you."

"And why not?" Dagger placed her hands on her hips, assuming the royalty stance again. "I told you what I thought about." There was a silence between them. Zidane would not meet her eyes. "Is it that bad, Zidane?"

"I... I don't know," Zidane shook his head, "I don't know what to even make of it myself. I don't know if it's good or bad. All I know is that the moon just makes me sad." Zidane now looked at Dagger, his heart thudding as he looked at her face. His eyes scanned every inch of her. The smoothness of her skin, that sometimes he just wanted to gently graze with his hand. Her long lashes that circled her eyes. The perfect curve of her pink lips that sometimes drove him crazy.

"Zidane?"

"What I see..." Zidane looked up at the large pendent of a moon, "is my mother. The woman I never met. I don't know what she looks like. Where she gave birth to me... why she got rid of me." Zidane turned to Dagger, "Why do you think my mother got rid of me, Dagger?"

Dagger was silent for a long time. She looked at the cemetary, the twinkling stars, and the large round moon that reminded her fondly of the view of the moon from the castle back in Alexandria. She then turned to Zidane, "I don't think she wanted to get rid of you, initially, Zidane. No mother wants to get rid of their child at first. Maybe she had you young and she couldn't keep you. If that's the case, then she made the right decision to pass you on to Baku. Maybe you were born in a terrible place. A place that she couldn't leave." Zidane carefully listened to Dagger.

"Maybe..." Zidane whispered, looking to the twinkling night, "Baku can't tell me anything. It's not that he refuses or anything... it's just that... he doesn't know anything. He won't tell me how he found me, though. My whole past is just one blur. I don't remember anything. Until I woke up one day when I was nine." Zidane lowered his head, remembering the first day of his life too fondly for his taste, "I woke up in the hideout. I was covered in quilts. Nice and warm. But when I woke up. I was crying... crying because I almost saw her in my dreams."

"Your mother?" Dagger asked. Zidane nodded. "You dream about her? What does she say to you?" Dagger was now very curious. Zidane looked down, hesitating for a moment, "Oh... you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to..."

"No..." Zidane shook his head, "I have to get it off my chest, Dagger. And your just the person to tell." Dagger tilted her head to the side, but Zidane ignored it. "I'll just be in a dream. It's normal. You can barely see the dream. It just flies by you. But suddenly, my dream slows down and I'm blinded. I can hear her. She's just how I always imagined a mother to sound. She's calling for me. I'm running and running. I can't see anything." Zidane balled his fists up and shook his head furiously, "but she won't tell me where I need to go. I'll ask her to tell me! But she'll only laugh and tell me I'm her baby. I'll just keep running and soon enough, I can hear her right beside me. She's pulling me into her arms. I'm aching, tired from running. It felt like I'd been running for days. Maybe even months. She'll hold me though and the light will begin to dull. My eyes begin to adjust and suddenly, I can see the outline of her lips. She's saying that she loves me. And she misses me. And suddenly... I'll wake up. Crying..." Zidane's fists unfurled and he sighed in defeat. "I don't even get to tell her how much I love her." He growled lowly, "I don't even get a chance to tell her I miss her!"

Zidane could feel hot tears behind his eyes, but he fought against them. A lump formed in his throat and his breathing became ragged. He turned away from Dagger, sorrow gripping his heart. He looked up at the Beauty Star, sniffling as quietly as he could. He was waiting for Dagger to say something. Anything. But suddenly, Dagger's arms had slid around him. She was hugging him from behind. He looked down at his chest, where her hands were locked together to seal the hug. He gently rest his hands over her smaller ones.

"Zidane, it's alright to be sad every now and then..." She released him. Zidane turned to Dagger, the tears now brimming his eyes. Dagger had never seen Zidane cry before, so the tears were shocking at first. "It's okay. As leader of the group, you must feel obligated to hold it together. But it's okay, Zidane. You can cry." The tears still didn't spill over from his eyes. Zidane felt like an idiot. He felt like he had to prove his manhood over to Dagger all over again. Just take her hand, drag her to the forest and murder some large animal. That sounded good. Violently murder a savage beast. Violence sounded good. "You're completely different at night, Zidane."

"It's not my time to shine," Zidane said, his voice slightly cracking. He quickly wiped the tears away and breathed unevenly. He turned to the cemetary and his eyes lie on the beautiful flower that had wilted to the ground. He picked it up and Dagger's aroma filled his nose.

"I've been thinking about the story you told me earlier," Dagger said, brushing some of her raven hair from his eyes, "Was that boy in your story... you?" Zidane turned to Dagger, swiveling the flower in his hand. He only nodded. "So, I was right..." Dagger nodded, "Zidane... I'm assuming this is a side of you people never see."

"Why should I tell people about this stuff?" Zidane looked down at the flower, gently stroking some of it's wilted pedals, "It's stupid, really." He cursed under his breath, quietly. "I feel stupid." Dagger gently took the flower from Zidane's hands.

"You'll kill the poor thing," She whispered, smelling it lightly, "this smells beautiful." Dagger smiled at the smell and wiped the pollen from the tip of her nose. "Where did you find it?"

"Here," Zidane told her, "you can have it if you want. Just think of it as a gift from me." She blushed furiously as Zidane bashfully turned around to admire the moon again. _Mother... _He thought as the moon glared a milky light down on them. Garnet gently tucked the flower behind her ear.

"Zidane?"

"Hmmm?" He turned back to her. He was breath-taken at how beautiful she looked with the white flower against her black hair.

"Thanks for sharing with me," She told him, bowing slightly. "I'm really glad you can entrust such things with me. But let's go back now, before anybody worries. We have a big day tomorrow anyway."

"Isn't everyday a big day?" Zidane crossed his arms over his chest.

"It is when I'm travelling with you," and with that Dagger quickly left the cemetary. Zidane watched her disappear into the night. He then turned back to the moon. As he looked at it, a new thought entered his mind.

_Dagger... _He smiled at the sky, "I'm such a stud!" He chuckled to himself. Zidane turned and raced after Dagger, who's grace disappeared into the dead night of Black Mage Village. And as he pumped his arms, the dreams of running for his mother melted away as he thought about the girl he'd soon be seeing again in his Inn room. The girl who was ready to travel the world aimlessly and see new wonders. The girl who's very prescense drove him into a love sick state. _Dagger. _


End file.
